Abstract

A multicore photonic crystal fibre was tested for its suitability for us in an astronomical instrumentation. The main issues regarding suitability are identified as crosstalk and the requirement of alignment accuracy. It is shown that crosstalk can be eliminated if the input spot is smaller than the mode field diameter. It is also shown that the fibre behaves like a standard single core PCF in the far field, and standard theoretical models can be used to predict the power intensity distribution.

© 2011 Optical Society of America